Be Prepared for Bad Weather RVing
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I love the freedom of the open road. There is nothing like exploring the back roads in your RV. You can go where you want and when you want in your house on wheels, and because of this often times you find yourself in a new destination everyday. Something many RVers do not take into consideration with this freedom to roam is the weather conditions where you are traveling to, or spending the night. RV’s are great, but they are not safe in severe weather, like lightning and thunderstorms with high winds, tornadoes and hurricanes.
When you’re at home, you usually know what the weather forecast is by reading the newspaper, listening to the radio or watching television. When you travel three or four hundred miles a day in your RV the weather conditions can change several times. Many times when you stop for the night all you want to do is get some rest. The weather is the last thing on your mind. The problem with this is severe weather can occur without much warning, and if you are caught in it, it can be disastrous.
So, what do we do, what’s the plan? Plan is the key word here. RVers need to have an emergency plan in case of a severe storm. For starters, have you ever heard of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio or NWR? The NOAA Weather Radio is a nationwide network of radio stations that broadcast continuous weather information directly from a nearby National Weather Service Office.
They broadcast National Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day. Alerts inform people if they need to take some type of action in order to protect themselves, such as “seeking shelter” or “to evacuate an area immediately!” What does this mean to RVers? It means if you owned a battery operated weather radio receiver you could monitor weather conditions no matter where you are!
Every RVer should own a weather radio receiver. Prices for receivers can range anywhere from $25 to $200 depending on the quality of the receiver and the features it has to offer. We actually have two weather radio receivers. We leave one in the RV at all times. Our main weather receiver is an AM-FM radio, emergency weather radio, cell phone charger and flashlight all in one. When we arrive at our destination we set it in the ‘Weather’ position and tune in to the NOAA station with the strongest signal in that area. Then, by leaving it in the alert/lock mode 24/7, when an all-hazard emergency or weather alert is broadcast by NOAA, the receiver sounds an audible alert to notify us that a message is pending.
We also have a handheld model that we can use when we are away from the campground. It’s perfect for hiking, riding four-wheelers, boating and many other uses. Both models work off of 12 volt DC, 120 volt AC and dry cell batteries.
When you get back home from your trip, you can use the weather radio receiver in your house.
For more information on the NOAA Weather Radio visit their website at www.nws.noaa.gov/
Remember, RV’s are not safe in severe weather! This includes severe thunderstorms with high winds, tornadoes and hurricanes. Always be prepared for bad weather RVing. Learn about the different types of weather hazards, get a weather radio if you don’t have one, create a plan with your family and practice and maintain the plan. Now go RVing and have some fun.
Happy Camping,
Mark Polk
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Along with the NOAA radio, good maps of the area would be beneficial. We have a Garmin Street Pilot 2610, but it’s not very good for getting all details of the surrounding area. Also have the ubiquitous WalMart Atlas and various other paper maps. But the best for finding out the details of an area is MS Streets and Trips on a laptop or if you have Internet access, something like Google maps.
In 2004 we were camping in Missouri, not expecting bad weather. When we stopped listening to the radio at 7 PM, there wasn’t any mention of possible severe weather, at least none that we heard. The sky was beautiful when we went to bed. About midnight 2 of our grand-daughters, who were sleeping outside in a tent, woke us to tell us that they were moving inside because of lightning in the distance.
By 2 AM, sirens were wailing and we were in the midst of a real drencher. TV and radio were giving tornado warnings by this time, but being unfamiliar with the area we didn’t understand exactly where the tornadoes were. We (I) got rattled and didn’t think of the S&T maps.
Fortunately the twisters didn’t come within a 5-mile range of us, but after that we made sure that we always talked to the office staff about tornado alerts and what the CG had as emergency shelters and the like. We’ve also put in a lot more thought about how to handle bad weather in the MH.
Hi Dennis, I’m curious as to what version of maps you have on your GARMIN? GARMIN maps are in most cases the best maps available. Sounds like you have an older version on your GPS.
Terrific idea! And thank you very much! Great tip for the new RVer…
What brand of portable weather radio do you have. the one we have at home (Midland) needs the county code number programed in to tell us about the area that we stopped at. chuck
At one time I had a midland receiver that required county codes too. The two I have now are from the Stormtracker series by Vector.
What brands of weather radios do you show in the article? Especially what is the handheld crank one you show? Where did you get them?
Richard if you don’t have an answer to your question yet, referencing the Stormtracker weather radio go to http://www.hurricanestore.com click on communications tab and it is on the top left corner. Hope this helps.
Mark,
thanks for taking the time to answer and thanks for all the other good info you give us
Both radios are the Stormtracker series by Vector. I actually got mine at Camping World, but that’s a great link fror the hurricane store with the same weather radios that stormy62 posted.